The Cynical Society is a study of the political despair and abdication of (individual) responsibility Goldfarb calls cynicism—a central but unexamined aspect of contemporary American political and social life. Goldfarb reveals with vivid strokes how cynicism undermines our capacity to think about society's strengths and weaknesses. Drawing on thinkers from Alexis de Tocqueville to Allan Bloom and on such recent works as Beloved, Bonfire of the Vanities, and Mississippi Burning, The Cynical Society celebrates cultural pluralism's role in democracy.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Jeffrey C. Goldfarb is professor of sociology at the New School for Social Research. He is the author of After the Fall, Beyond Glasnost, and On Cultural Freedom, the latter two published by the University of Chicago Press.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface
1. Cynicism and the American Way of Politics
2. Cynicism as a Cultural Form
3. Mass Society as the Underside of Democracy
4. Democracy in America
5. The Decline and Fall of American Culture?
6. Ideology and the American Left: The Pursuit of Obscurity
7. Ideology on the American Right—A Clear and Present Danger
8. The Crisis in Education
9. The New Treason of the Intellectuals: A Critique of Ideological Critique
10. Cynicism and the American Dilemma
11. Cynicism, Fundamentalism, and the Prospects for Democratic Culture
Notes
Index

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The Cynical Society is a study of the political despair and abdication of (individual) responsibility Goldfarb calls cynicism—a central but unexamined aspect of contemporary American political and social life. Goldfarb reveals with vivid strokes how cynicism undermines our capacity to think about society's strengths and weaknesses. Drawing on thinkers from Alexis de Tocqueville to Allan Bloom and on such recent works as Beloved, Bonfire of the Vanities, and Mississippi Burning, The Cynical Society celebrates cultural pluralism's role in democracy.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Jeffrey C. Goldfarb is professor of sociology at the New School for Social Research. He is the author of After the Fall, Beyond Glasnost, and On Cultural Freedom, the latter two published by the University of Chicago Press.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface
1. Cynicism and the American Way of Politics
2. Cynicism as a Cultural Form
3. Mass Society as the Underside of Democracy
4. Democracy in America
5. The Decline and Fall of American Culture?
6. Ideology and the American Left: The Pursuit of Obscurity
7. Ideology on the American Right—A Clear and Present Danger
8. The Crisis in Education
9. The New Treason of the Intellectuals: A Critique of Ideological Critique
10. Cynicism and the American Dilemma
11. Cynicism, Fundamentalism, and the Prospects for Democratic Culture
Notes
Index

REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE

If you are a student who has a disability that prevents you
from using this book in printed form, BiblioVault may be able to supply you
with an electronic file for alternative access.

Please have the disability coordinator at your school fill out this form.